Sincerity's Heart
by IronChainDragon
Summary: Mimi had thought she'd left that Digimon stuff behind her when she moved to America. However, upon meeting Michael's friend Steve, she learns of many more DigiDestined out there. Somehow, she finds herself in a leadership position she is in no way qualified for. Companion piece to 'A Little Kindness'.
1. A Beginning

Daichi: Recently, in A Little Kindness, I stated that Mimi was leader of the American DigiDestined. This story takes that fact and runs with it, starting from when she meets her first Digimon in America, continuing through A Little Kindness, until the eventual conclusion.

Verity: She doesn't own anything.

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No matter where it was, school was still school. There was learning, there were teachers, and it was filled with utter boredom. And at the end of the day, a single thought would flit across the students' minds. Freedom.

Mimi Tachikawa was no different from the rest of them. Her friend Michael said that he was going to introduce her to Steve, supposedly his friend who went to another school.

"Now, some of what he says may confuse you. If you don't understand it, assume it's an inside joke and move on." She nodded.

Michael had been the first friend she made after moving to America. Her only friend, if she could just admit it. By this point in their lives, most of the kids had already settled into little groups, leaving not much room for someone new. Not that she would admit to having only one friend at school to anybody.

Anybody except Palmon. It had been more than two years since she had seen her partner, and it had begun to get to her a little. Only having one nearby friend to talk to didn't make it any easier.

"Where were we meeting your friend, again?"

"There's a small… we think it's a park nearby. Nobody ever goes there. Actually, I think everyone forgot it existed." Michael grinned. "We go there all the time, if we don't want to be overheard."

"...Why are you telling me this?"

"It's in case someone ever reports me missing. Check here first."

Much of what her friend did was an unknown to Mimi, but something told her that normal teenagers weren't supposed to talk about that so easily. Not that she'd know. She was hardly a normal teenager.

Of course, unbeknownst to her, neither was Michael.

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"I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Michael."

"Very funny, Steve. I told you about this just last week." Michael gestured for her to come forward, and she did, albeit tentatively. "This is Mimi. Moved here about a year ago, from Japan, actually. And you said I didn't need to know a foreign language."

"Well, can't you hire a translator?"

"That's not the point. Anyway, Mimi, this is Steve. I've known him since we were little. He moved to another part of town before you came here, but we keep in touch." She wasn't entirely sure what to do in this situation. It had been far too long since she'd had to introduce herself to somebody else like this. Generally, it was in front of a class.

"Hello. It's good to meet you." Was that too formal? She didn't know. She hadn't made a friend in… over a year, since she met Michael. And the time before that… Palmon.

"Quiet, huh? Michael, sometimes I really question your tastes in girls."

"I already told you, it's not like that!" Michael glared at Steve, and Mimi was beginning to wonder why she was there. That's when it happened.

In the area between two trees, the world seemed to blur. "Um… guys… is that normal?"

Michael and Steve turned to see the distortion. "One of them? In the city? That hasn't happened before."

"Should it surprise you? It was only a matter of time." Michael opened the bag that he always carried around, and Mimi saw something that she knew shouldn't have been there.

A little green Digimon hopped out of the bag. "Again?" He asked. "This is the fifth time this month! Can't we get a break?"

"I wish," A voice squawked out, and a small purple bird jumped on top of the rock he had been hiding behind. "But you know how it is. Mind if I take this one?"

Steve glanced at Michael, who shrugged. "Betamon doesn't fight well on land, anyway. I don't see any reason not to let Penguinmon have this one."

The distortions ceased, and out stepped a large black wolf Digimon.

"A BlackGarurumon, huh?" Penguinmon eyed the wolf cautiously, as it snarled, scraping its claws along the ground. Perhaps it was a good thing nobody else came there. "I guess there's no talking you into leaving peacefully, right?"

"There never is. Why are you even asking?" Betamon sighed in exasperation.

"I can try. Hey, Steve, toss me some power, will you?" Mimi couldn't remember a time when Palmon, or any other Digimon, had talked to their partner like that. Almost carefree, like it didn't even matter that there was a feral Digimon in the middle of New York City.

It almost reminded her of herself, back on File Island, before she learned the meaning of the word DigiDestined.

"Sure, fine." Steve pulled a Digivice out of his pocket, gripping it tightly. "Go wild." That was when it started glowing.

"Penguinmon Digivolve to Frigimon!" This was the first Digimon she actually recognized, although she could have made a pretty good guess with the BlackGarurumon. She knew a Frigimon.

She didn't know any BlackGarurumon, but if this one was anything to go by, they weren't very nice at all. This one was wilder than any other Digimon she had seen, and she wished, again, that she had Palmon to protect her.

"Sub-Zero Ice Punch!" An attack, a flurry of dispersing data, and Frigimon shrunk back down to Penguinmon.

"We're lucky this isn't a populated area," Betamon remarked. "Now all we have to worry about is explaining this to your friend." Michael, Steve, and the Digimon turned to Mimi, who was trying to make sense of what she had just seen.

They had been forced to leave their partners behind in the Digital World, hadn't they? But, right here… there were two Digimon with human partners. Other DigiDestined, who apparently had to deal with things like this a lot.

And she didn't even have Palmon to help them.

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Daichi: This side story is mainly because… Mimi doesn't get a lot of focus during 02, for obvious reasons. There's not many places to fit her. And T.K. and Ken aren't the only ones suffering in this world. Besides, with when we see her, with what's coming up… if I didn't do this, the most awesome upcoming moments for Mimi would have to happen offscreen. Let's try to avoid that.


	2. A Story

Daichi: I don't own any of this.

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Mimi looked first at Steve and Michael, and then at the Digimon by their feet. Penguinmon and Betamon, if she'd heard correctly.

Digimon. Here, of all places, in the Real World. Where they shouldn't have been. Her hand fell to her pocket, where she still kept her Digivice after all this time. She pulled it out, despite knowing what would be displayed on the screen.

Two dots, right in front of her.

"You… you're DigiDestined?" She couldn't believe it, despite all the proof that she needed being right in front of her.

Steve glanced at her, and the object in her hand. "Wow, Michael, you really do know how to pick them."  
"Shut up." It was almost a glare. Not quite. "I didn't know about this."

"I would hope not. We could have used another last week, when those Coelamon…"

"I get it, I messed up. And we agreed not to talk about that anymore."

"I… don't think I could have helped. My partner's still in the Digital World." And that got their attention more than anything else she had ever said to Michael.

"No. Way," Steve gasped. "You're one of them? You've been to the Digital World?"

"Yes." She got the feeling her life was about to get far more complicated than it was already.

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"Wow," Steve leaned back. "I always dreamed of one day meeting the ones who stopped Apocalymon, but I never imagined it'd actually happen!"

"You knew about that?"

"Knew it?" Penguinmon shook his head. "You and your friends are pretty famous, and not just in the Digital World. When the sky opened up… even if nobody knows who you are, they all know you exist."

Mimi let that sink in for a moment. Several people knew about the DigiDestined, even if their identities were unknown. Suddenly, that made Tai's orders to lay low seem impossible.

"Um, are there any others of you?"

Michael and Steve exchanged glances. "Not that we're friendly with, no…" Michael began, "But I know there are others in this town. The Digimon at the sanctuary talk about them all the time, when we manage to get away to visit."

"The sanctuary? What's that?"

"Well…" Betamon paused for a bit, as though thinking. "The portals that bring Digimon through to this world are mostly one-way. There isn't a way back, at least not that we know of, so… if they aren't hostile, they have to settle here. And the sanctuary is where they live."

"It needs a better name," Steve admitted, "But it doesn't seem like anybody can think of one, so we just call it the sanctuary. There's probably others around, but the one we visit is a few hours out of the city, mostly underground. I'm still not sure how it stays so well hidden, though."

"Now, Steve, we learned not to question these kinds of things."

"How are the two of you DigiDestined, anyway?" Mimi asked. Michael leaned back.

"Well, it started some time after the Digital World disappeared from the sky. People were panicking, and while things might have been stable on your end, here, rifts were opening more or less constantly. The adults seem to have forgotten a lot of what went on in that time, but honestly, I think they just don't talk about it anymore. Still, sometimes Digimon would fall through those rifts, and they aren't always friendly."

"Like I needed to be reminded of that Gorillamon…" Betamon muttered. "Even as Seadramon, it still managed to outspeed me!"

"You were on land, Betamon. You've never fought that well on land, and that was your first Digivolution. I'm surprised it worked that well at all," Penguinmon commented.

"Like your first one was much better! You were almost beaten by a group of Bakemon!"

"Before I Digivolved!" Penguinmon and Betamon fell into an argument, and their partners sighed.

"They do this a lot," Steve stated. "We've found it's best to ignore them. They'll exhaust themselves arguing and we carry them home… which we have to do anyway."

Michael shook his head. "Anyway, with so many Digimon emerging, there had to be some way to control them and keep them from wrecking everything. So Betamon and Penguinmon came through a rift carrying Digivices, and here we are." That explained so much, and yet so little. But it was also the best explanation she was likely to ever get.

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"Well, I should really get going now," Steve stated, looking at his watch. "My parents will be expecting me back soon, and I have homework. Plus I need a new hiding space for Penguinmon…" He muttered the last bit.

"What did he do this time?" Michael asked.

"Canned sardines. In the hall closet. My parents are wondering why everything smells like fish now, meaning I can no longer keep him there during the day, or he may be found."

"Did you try pretending he was a stuffed toy?" Mimi suggested. "It always worked with Palmon."

Michael's and Steve's faces both gained a look of dawning realization. "We… never considered that. I just shoved Betamon into my dresser overnight."

"Well, I guess I don't need a new hiding space for Penguinmon anymore, but I should still hurry. We're still visiting the sanctuary Saturday, right?"

"I guess. Mimi, we go to the sanctuary every other weekend or so. Want to come along sometime?" It had been so long since she'd been anywhere near a Digimon, and not only did she meet two more of them, but now she had the opportunity to meet more of them. She didn't even need to really think about her answer.

"That'd be… that'd be nice." It wouldn't be Palmon, but that would be close enough for now. It never occurred to her that accepting their invitation meant eventually getting pulled into their adventures, but looking back on it, it was inevitable. The process just sped up a bit.

And thus, Mimi's fate became intertwined with that of the other DigiDestined in America.

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Daichi: From this point, expect a lot of time skips. Also, you may notice that, without a team, DigiDestined are prone to making stupid decisions. Of course, they do a lot of that even with a team, but...


	3. A Sanctuary

Daichi: This is a few months later, about.

Verity: We don't own anything.

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It turned out that arranging the visit was easier said than done. The fact was, Mimi didn't have that many free weekends to begin with, and she wasn't sure how her parents would react if she told them she was going to visit several Digimon outside the city. It took months for a date to finally be set for her first visit to the sanctuary.

Not that she wasn't excited for it, of course. She was rather interested in the prospect of meeting more friendly Digimon, especially those that took up residence in the Real World. She'd spoken to Penguinmon and Betamon some since the incident with the BlackGarurumon, but it wasn't the same.

It still wouldn't be Palmon, but it would do. And now, the real issue, now that she had time, was actually getting there. As it turns out, three teenagers and two Rookie Digimon alone in the big city can get into plenty of trouble, even if they just want to get to their destination.

"Penguinmon, did you have to eat all of the snacks?"

"I was hungry!" The little bird squawked indignantly.

"They were supposed to be for all of us! Now pipe down, we can't let any of the normals hear you." Steve clamped a hand over his partner's beak. "One of these days, I'm going to get a bigger bag, and then we won't have to deal with this anymore."

"No, he'll just eat more of the snacks," Michael pointed out. "At least Betamon's relatively well behaved."

"I don't remember having any trouble like this with Palmon," Mimi mused. "But she always was rather quiet, even when she was Tanemon." Perhaps a plant, a bird, and an amphibian really weren't good for comparison, but they were teenagers, and such things didn't really concern them.

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Once the spectacle of three teenagers and two Digimon working with public transportation was over with, most of the difficulty for the day was over with. Supposedly.

"Don't worry," Steve had stated. "By the end of the day they'll have worn themselves out and won't be causing any trouble on the way back." Mimi personally doubted this, remembering very well the first time she brought a Digimon on the train, but didn't say anything.

"So, once we're out of the city limits… then what?"

"That's the fun part. Do you have any idea just what the Digimon have done underground, just a few miles from there?"

"No."

Michael just grinned. "Now, have you ever ridden on a Seadramon before?"

"...No." She was beginning to see where they were going with this, and it kind of scared her.

"Well, this is going to be a new experience for you, isn't it?" They were. Something told her this wasn't going to be as smooth of a ride as Whamon or Ikkakumon.

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Mimi's first thought about the sanctuary was that it was impossible for all of it to be below ground. Certainly, the Digimon living there might enjoy a bit of sunlight, even if they couldn't expand very far that way.

Her first thought upon actually seeing the place for herself was that, clearly, they didn't need to. For one thing, there was an actual skylight.

"Yeah, we don't know how they got that, either," Steve admitted. "I think someone else has been bringing them stuff, but that doesn't explain all of it." They were interrupted by a small orange lion Digimon running into them.

"Oh, sorry about that!" The little Rookie gave a nervous smile.

"What's the rush, Coronamon?" Betamon asked. "You never run around like this unless you really have to?"

"I need to track down some popcorn," Coronamon replied. "There's some other DigiDestined here, and their partners are planning on a spar before they go home!"

"You mean we could actually meet some others?" Penguinmon sounded excited. "Maybe they could help us. There might even be someone who can fight in the air!"

"Still a bit upset about that Airdramon?" Michael asked.

"Just a bit. And you can't say you aren't, because Seadramon did just as badly!"

"...True." Mimi decided that she didn't need to know.

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The two other DigiDestined at the sanctuary that day were a boy and a girl. Their Digimon, respectively, were a Tortomon and Centarumon. From the first glance, however, it was clear that the Tortomon was winning.

Not that the Centarumon wasn't putting up a good fight. He was simply outclassed by the other Champion, who seemed to have more fighting experience, amongst other things. He really didn't have a chance, although all of them seemed to be having fun.

"That's good enough, Centarumon!" The girl called. "You can come back, now. Nice job, Lou, Tortomon."

"I'm sure you'll win a bout some day, Maria," The boy stated. "Just not today." The two Digimon reverted to their Rookie states, and Mimi recognized both of them clearly. The boy, Lou, had an Otamamon, while the girl, Maria, was partnered to a Patamon. Seeing the both of them brought back memories.

"That was impressive," Michael commented. "I think I've seen them around town, although not that often, and I certainly didn't know that they had Digimon." The girl, upon hearing his voice, turned to face them.

"Oh! Others! I didn't think we'd be meeting anyone new today. I'm Maria, and these are Patamon, Lou, and Otamamon!" The three new arrivals exchanged glances, unsure of what to do. Eventually, Mimi got fed up with the awkward silence and stepped forward.

"I'm Mimi, and these are Michael, Betamon, Steve, and Penguinmon." She forced a smile on her face, although she didn't see how it would matter at this point. It came to mind that she and her friends were terrible at first impressions.

Not that this was at all new or anything. Just an observation that she felt she should have had a long time ago.

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Daichi: Probably for the better that Palmon isn't there, actually. She stays sane, that way. Can't have everyone's partners completely crazy.

BlackGatomon: And what does that say about Ken and T.K.?

Daichi: Ken's bit hasn't happened yet. As for T.K…. well, we all know about his issues. Do I really need to elaborate?


	4. A Newcomer

Daichi: Well, the prior options didn't really pan out, so let's try again… with a focal point other than Mimi. That should do it!

Verity: Don't own anything… we're planning another hostile takeover, but it doesn't look like it will get anywhere… where would we even find a Hippogriffomon, a Brachiomon, and three AeroVeedramon?

Tsukaimon: As the one sent out on scouting missions… no idea.

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Phil was someone that the world would consider normal. He went to school, did homework, occasionally tried out for sports but failed miserably. Not an unusual thing about him. And he was happy that way.

School was boring, but he needed to learn. Homework was annoying, but it was something to do when there was nothing good on TV. Sports would be nice, but nothing a short run around the neighborhood couldn't replace. Life was good.

He hadn't expected it to change. Even when he looked up at the sky and wondered if it would split open again like it had that summer, it was nothing more than idle curiosity.

He didn't notice the occasional instances of damage in the less-inhabited parts of the city. He didn't notice the girl who ran around carrying an orange guinea pig, or the boy with a blue tadpole on his head, or if he did, he didn't think much on it.

Normally, this was something that never should have changed. But as somebody who had looked into the sky on that day it was torn wide open, the countdown had begun long ago.

Soon, everything would change.

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The day it happened started like just about every other Tuesday. Phil ate breakfast at home as quickly as he could, due to breaking his alarm clock the month before and never bothering to get a new one.

He'd been meaning to fix that one of these days, but the thought never really came up at times when he'd be able to actually do so. Not that it would be a problem, if he ran. He was used to waking up early.

On his way out the door, he glanced up at the sky, just to check. Nothing. He didn't know what he was expecting to see, really, if not that.

But there was a feeling. Phil wasn't sure how he knew, but he did. Today, something would change. Something important.

Of course, he could never have imagined just what it turned out to be.

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Phil wasn't sure just what the deal with Lou was. Plenty of kids paid less than their full attention in class, but towards the end of each day, the other boy just seemed increasingly nervous about something. Not being able to pay attention towards the end of the day was unfortunate, but normal. This seemed distinctly less so.

Not that he particularly cared. Whatever Lou was dealing with was his own business, simple as that, and he wouldn't want to intrude.

It wasn't like he could do anything anyway. He was normal, and as far as he could tell, that was all he ever would be.

The end of the school day came and went, and he packed everything as quickly as possible, though he was still nowhere near the first person out the door. No, that was Lou, pulling something out of his bag that Phil was almost certain was a toy.

Almost. But not quite. The moving tail was a bit of a hint.

No. No, it wasn't any of his business. Not at all. He'd just go home and do his homework, and pretend that the little blue thing didn't exist.

But he'd take a different way home, this time. Just so that he could get that strange feeling sorted out.

...In hindsight, that may not have been his best decision.

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The moment everything changed, it was because he had tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. A feeling, a distortion… something was shifting, and he sat up to see two figures. One, a gray feline. The other, a white ermine shape that his eyes kept being drawn to.

"That's enough, TobuCatmon," The ermine spoke, his voice surprisingly harsh for such a small creature. "You've dragged us away from everything. Aren't you satisfied, now?"

The cat swiped at the other creature, whiskers twitching. "Satisfied, Kudamon? Do you really think one such as I can be satisfied?"

Phil wasn't sure what he was seeing. Reaching forward, his hand closed over a small blue device.

Kudamon's ears flattened. "Perhaps I like to believe that everyone has, at the very least, a small piece of a soul. But if this is how it's meant to be… I will not allow you to harm anyone else!"

"Really? And what do you expect to do?" TobuCatmon leapt over the other creature, landing right in front of Phil. "So this is what a human looks like… and one with a Digivice, to boot. And if it's just the two of us… how long were you hiding that you had a partner to find?"

"I do not think I should have to answer to one such as you!" With that, Kudamon sprang at TobuCatmon, and they rapidly descended into violence. Everything quickly stopped making sense from there.

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Phil remembered being normal. That had been quite some time ago, but it had still happened, even if that time had become irrecoverable within a month, when Kudamon had transformed into a beast of fire to fight a dinosaur.

But he'd never imagined there were others like him, even if he'd been told that his partner's world had stories of such people. At the very least, he'd assumed that their paths would never cross in any meaningful way, suspicious classmates aside.

He'd also never imagined that anything existed that his partner couldn't fight, due to inexperience as much as anything. So, it was a bad thing for a good, more or less.

The trio of cackling dolphins very quickly stopped laughing once the sea serpent arrived. Mostly because it was hard to laugh when speared by an icicle.

"See? I told you we needed to check it out!" The speaker was a girl carrying an orange guinea pig, followed closely by a couple of kids who were a good bit older than her.

"I guess you were right," One of them, the boy, laughed. "But we probably didn't have to bring Mimi with us."

"Just try leaving me behind sometime. I dare you." The older girl glared at the both of them. "Just because I don't have Palmon with me doesn't mean I can't be helpful!"

Life was never going to be the same.

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Daichi: Good news: I can probably skip ahead to somewhere close to the 02 timeline, which will make things much easier- this is going to be just as much Willis' story as Mimi's.

Verity: Yes, you just need them to find Willis, can't be that hard. Not like there's a Wendigomon on the loose or anything.


End file.
